S. Korean Group Sends Food Aid to North

Published 7:00 pm, Saturday, March 29, 2003

A South Korean aid group said Monday it gave 440 tons of flour to North Korea, ignoring tensions over communist state's suspected nuclear weapons program,

The Korean Sharing Movement said the delivery Saturday will feed about thousands of North Korean children at nurseries and kindergartens for several weeks.

North Korea has been relying on outside help to feed its 22 million people since the mid-1990s. Tens of thousands of North Koreans have died of hunger and hunger-related diseases.

Earlier this month, the U.N. World Food Program said its programs in North Korea would run out of food in June because of a sharp drop in donations.

The U.N. children's agency, UNICEF, has asked countries to put aside any unease about helping North Korea during the nuclear standoff, warning its clinics in the communist country would run out of medicines and other essential supplies in coming months.

The nuclear crisis flared in October, when the United States said North Korea admitted having a secret nuclear program in violation of a 1994 agreement.